#I wrote this on PG on 13th Oct 2010. And posted on FB Notes on 30th Jan 2011.

We have been for long talking about changing the role of the government from being the regulator to that of a facilitator. It is impossible for the government and its administrators to handle the role of a regulator successfully. Therefore, Indian bureaucracy, which have people selected through one of the toughest exams and who boast of great knowledge and ability, are overburdened. This burden can be reduced if we make them the facilitators and not the regulators. Thus, they will be able to use their knowledge and ability in the right direction.

There is a scheme suggested by Finance Ministry of the alternative solution to PDS system. I would like to implement that. It is based on practical thought and behavioral economics. If you want details then read Chapter 2 of Economic Survey 2009-2010.

In India, we discuss about the bad situation of sports other than Cricket. I would like to implement the strategy used by administrators of cricket to bring it to the fore for other sports as well. A private club consortium structure for all the sports body will be the first step towards that goal and the government will provide tax benefits to the body. The government will act as a facilitator by running stadiums and giving them to these bodies on annual rent.

The foremost reform that I would like to see would be in the working of political parties. I would like to bring in the regulation/law for the internal functioning of the political parties. Members of a political party will follow career service, i.e., they will join at the lowest rung and will have to make their way to the top by working effectively. Pre-independence democratic structure of Indian National Congress will be the basis of any such regulation or law.

Finally, I had the opportunity to read this novel, which has been long pending, due to one reason or the other and more of my laziness. Since it was an e-book and I do not have any e-book reader that I can carry around, I was not able to concentrate on the novel while reading on my computer. Finally, last week my wife gifted me a smartphone; I quickly decided to read all the pending e-books, and the first to hit the ball was Trade Winds to Meluhha by Vasant Dave.

Trade Winds to Meluhha has been set in 3rd millennium BC, the same time when Indus Valley Civilization or Harappa Civilization flourished in the region extending from Manda in North to Narmada estuary (Daimabad) in South, from Suktagendor (Baluchistan) in the West to Meerut (Alamgirpur in the East. The novel is set in IVC, Babylon, and Bahrain and most of the scenes are set in IVC and Babylon (Babili in novel). The story is about a young man Samasin, a Sumeru (present Iran was known as Sumer), who witnesses a muder and is later charged for that murder. Story revolves around how he had a narrow escape from death and how he travels from Babili (Babylon), via Bahrain (Dilmun), reached Lothal (Lothalur), and traverses most of the IVC (Meluhha) region in search of a man known as Siwa Saqra to give him the last message from the man whose murder he had witnessed. The story talks about his heroics and romance in Meluhha and Babili.

The author has done justice to the prehistoric setting and has taken ample care to use archaeological evidence available for that time while using them in his novel. At the sametime he has taken creative freedom to derive a story that matches the chord with the readers. The Archaeological evidence suggests that there were trade relations between IVC and Mesopotamia as many seals of IVC have been discovered from Mesopotomian sites. Also, the Mesopotamian records from about the same period in which the novel has been set refer to trade relations with “Meluhha”, which is the ancient name of Indus region. The text also speaks about two intermediate trading stations called Dilmun and Makan identified with Bahrain in the Persian Gulf and MakranCoast or Oman respectively. And the author has used these linkages to establish a trading relationship in his novel as well as the title of the novel itself suggests.

It is always difficult to write a historic novel and given to understand that there are many novels based on history especially Indian history available in the market, this novel stands out from the lot. It has been well researched and does justice to the archaeological evidence available in IVC and other cultures of the same period and literary evidence available from Mesopotamia. Written in a lucid style, novel never seems to lose its continuity – the very reason I completed the e-book on my mobile in a week’s time. There were some spelling mistakes and typographical errors, which I think, can be ignored given the quality of story line produced by one of the creative thinkers. I wish to see more of similar creativity by Vasant Dave. Till then waiting for the sequel to the novel that he has promised in the section, “How this Pre-Historic Novel was Written,” an interesting read in itself.

My rating 5/5. Believe me, it will keep you engaged! 🙂 History will never be as interesting as it is presented in this novel.

P.S.:- I had received the book as a gift from Vasantji in Feb 2012, for nothing in return.

If I have to give a single phrase verdict for the book then it would be Well-researched. Ashwin Sanghi has written a well-researched book, engraved deep into the History of the Indian Sub-continent and linked it well with the history of South Asia.

I love history, especially Ancient Indian History from the times of Indus Valley Civilization through Vedic Period and Buddhism to the reigns of Harshawardhana. The complete material history of the period has some continuity. It has been a well-proven fact that Indus Valley Civilization was not robbed off its glamour by a migrating tribe of Aryans from Western Asia. However, no one has been able to say that the same group of people represented Indus Valley Civilization and Vedic Society. Nevertheless, Ashwin Sanghi has presented this theory, though as a part of fiction, in a very efficient and effective manner.

While reading the book, I somehow forgot that I am reading a work of fiction and read the book as a commentary on Indian History. I would consider this as a commentary on Indian History only if it was not produced in the way it was, it actually was defining the new History for India. Ancient History has always been confusing what with several distortions by both Foreign (especially English) and Nationalist authors who in an attempt to prove their points about Golden Era of India tried to divulge things, which were not there. Ashwin Sanghi’s book comes as great breather as it shares the same sentiments as my understanding and interpretation of the history goes.

The story revolves around Dr. Saini, who is a professor of History, who also happens to be the descendents of Yadava clan of the times of Krishna. The aim of the Dr. Saini is to prove that he is not the murderer of his friend Dr. Varshaney, an Archaeologist based in Kalibangan. To prove himself right, Dr Saini begins the quest for The Krishna Key. How he interprets different signs and symbols, proves his innocence, and finally deciphers the Krishna Key is the main theme of the story. I will not divulge much of this here. If you want to find out then just grab your copy and start reading.

If you love history and are open to different point of view of interpretation then go for this book. It is a must read. There were few instances of poor proofreading towards the end of the book, but they can be easily ignored. Actually, the book will attract your attention so much, that you will not have time to think about these mistakes. So, do not worry about them.

My rating 4.5/5.

Note: I received an author-signed copy of this book as a gift from My Smart Price in return of a review of this book on my blog.

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